In the year 2493, the colonists of New Shanghai found the Aliens...and they weren't very neighborly! In game, the colonists sent out an emergency distress signal, which was intercepted by an extraterrestrial group of hunters -- the Predators.

As a Predator, you've just found the perfect prey in this one-player, monster-versus-monster beat-em-up.

Activision's Aliens vs. Predator is a monster- mashing beat-em-up, where you play the Predator. Unlike Ripley, you can't just rely on guns to fight the acid-blood terrors. Instead, you must also use your preying strength to make 'em scream. Don't worry! Although the Alien hordes are plentiful, you're more than a match for 'em.

Night of the Hunter

On planetoid LV-426, the six- man crew of a spaceship unearthed the eggs of a terrible parasitic creature -- the Alien! Soon the crew was missing and the cargo was lost. Now a group of colonists on New Shanghai are under Alien attack. They've sent out an emergency distress signal, which has been intercepted by a race of extraterrestrial hunters known as the Predators. The Predators live to hunt and now they believe they've found the perfect prey...

Aliens vs. Predator is a one-player, side-scrolling, punch- and-kick fiesta, where you must hunt down and destroy Aliens to gain honor among your fellow Predators. Traveling through 10 levels of vermin-infested corridors, you hunt through a city, the countryside, the Spaceport, the Space Transport, and finally an Alien world in your final showdown against the Alien Mother.

Your hunting skills had better be as sharp as your opponents' teeth, because you'll face Alien Drones, Warriors, Eggs (complete with Facehuggers), Chestbursters, Guardians, and the Alien Queen. Some Aliens use acid as a defensive weapon, some will skitter across the floor to attack you, and others resort to their molars to mollify you.

Predator Power

Take heart (or the Aliens will), because you have some pretty mean weapons yourself.

You're equipped with a shoulder-mounted Laser Cannon, which can fire Light, Medium, or screen-clearing Heavy Laser bolts depending on how long you hold down the Fire button. You can also pick up a Disc weapon, which shoots deadly discs into your foes, or a Predator's Spear, which takes out whole lines of Aliens.

ProTip:

Slide the minute you see the eggs, or they'll hatch.

When you pick up a weapon, throw it right away. When you hit an Alien, throw it again immediately to hit 'em once more offscreen.

Against the Alien sewer guardian, use Heavy Laser Fire when its feet are touching the ground, or you won't even dent its skin. When you've worn down its energy, slide kick it until it's annihilated.

You also have some basic fighting moves, like an elbow punch maneuver and a spinning kick. Your throw move and a sliding kick are useful in tight situations, too.

To satisfy your extraterrestrial hunger and to help you defeat your foes, you can pick up Rhynth meat (restores some power and extends your life gauge) and Ptera meat (replenishes you). You can also find an invisibility shield and an energy-restoring Blue Bottle.

Trap Aliens in corners and repeatedly slide to get rid of them. Watch your back.

Cinema Fantastique

Aliens vs. Predator looks great. The detailed backgrounds are eerie, and they have a definite "otherworldly" feel to them. Although the Predator and the Aliens are also well-drawn, the confined depth of animation sometimes misleads you into thinking you have an Alien in your Laser Sights, when in reality the Alien is a little to the right or left of your Sight.

When you're on the platform in the Spaceport stage, blast enemies off the center platform and grab whatever goodies are left in their wake. If you stand in the middle, the platform goes up and you can't collect what's on the ground.

To get rid of those pesky Aliens, stand in one spot and use Light-to-Medium Laser fire over and over again. Be sure to recharge your Shoulder Cannon when the Alien is down.

The well-drawn cinematic sequences between action scenes are a real help. These scenes let you know what's going on, and what's coming up. Kudos to the artist for those gorgeous illustrations.

They say that no one can hear you scream in space, which is a good thing, since the music in this game may drive you to that point. The sound effects are okay, though, with each punch registering a successful outcry.

Toss all the Aliens to one side of the screen and work from there.

Fanged Fun

The sheer numbers of Aliens this game throws at you makes it hard to qualify it as an intermediate game, but Aliens vs. Predator may seem pretty linear to most experienced gamers. The one-dimensional game play is pretty simple. Basically, it's Final Fight in costume. However, fans of the movies and the comic book series may find enough here to quench their thirst. If you suffer from a bad case of xenophobia (look it up, Junior), this game's got the cure for what's Alien you.

Alien vs Predator Downloads

The deadliest alien life forms in the galaxy are thrown together into the same space station and must fight it out to survive. Also thrown into the mix is a Colonial Marine! Alien vs. Predator is hitting the Jaguar and it offers a new perspective to the theme: a first-person view where one can play as either of the title characters, or go at it as a Colonial Marine. Each of the characters has his/her own weapon systems and strengths/weaknesses. For example, the Alien is very fast, but does not have the complex and powerful weapon systems of the other two fighters. The Colonial Marine must find ammunition for his weapons, but he can plug into any of the computer terminals located around the station. And the Predator has probably the most complex weapon systems of all in addition to heat-seeking vision.

reggie posted a review

Difficulty: Easy

Available: July

Levels: 10

Theme: Action

In Search Of New Prey...

In the year 2493, the human colonists of New Shanghai on the planet Vega 4 had no idea that their workers discovered dormant eggs of a dangerous, parasitic life-form. The colonists found themselves helpless against the Aliens that formed from the eggs, and sent a distress signal for help. A passing ship of Predators heard the call, and made the decision to hunt the Aliens instead of a human colony.

You play the role of a Predator. In your hunt, you will come across hordes of Alien Drones, eggs, Warriors, Facehuggers and Chest-bursters. Collect weapons to help you on your quest, such as the disc and spear. Items will appear after you defeat an alien. Some of these are meat, invisibility shields and Alien skulls (the trophies of the Predator Warriors). Many attack methods are at your disposal, like the grapple, elbow punch, throw, flying kick, spinning kick, slide and bounceback. Alien guardians are waiting at the end of certain levels to teach you a lesson about hunting. Defeat the big prize: the Alien Queen! Fight for honor, fight for glory, but most of all, fight for fun!

reggie posted a review

All you readers of the Dark Horse comic series, wait no more as Activision has the mondo game for you!

You play the Predator out on your big hunt! Your first encounter takes you through a small human colony but you find that Aliens have taken it over. Using punches, kicks and a quick and deadly sliding maneuver, you must kill off all of the aliens and face Huggers that have taken over the colony.

Finish that stage and you then transport to the Aliens' home planet where four more perilous stages await you with spectacular cinemas and great animation.

This cart really brings the feel of the comic book to life!

reggie posted a review

Preying is not for the weak in the action packed, thriller, Alien vs. Predator. In this 1993 worldwide release by Activision, you are in control of a Predator who receives a distress call from Vega 4 of an attack on the city of New Shangi. While completing construction underground, a crew stumbles upon a species of aliens known as “Xenomorphs”. These creatures are unfamiliar to the people of the city and as the aliens begin to overtake them, they quickly send out a distress signal toward earth. As the Predator, you are hunting down the aliens, who appear to be a more challenging prey versus the humans. Your goal is to wipe out all of the aliens before advancing to the next level. Some of your abilities include charging lasers to destroy all of your enemies and becoming invisible. This single player video game, developed by Information Global Services, is an 8-megabit Cartridge and is compatible with SNES platforms.